Thai grammar
Thai grammar explained in plain words. The verb never changes for person or tense; time is shown by words like yesterday and tomorrow. What is harder: count words before numbers — two person, three glass — and polite particles at the end of the phrase: khrap for men, kha for women.
Notes
- 📐Khrap and kha: politeness at the end of every phrasePoliteness in Thai does not live in a word like "please". It lives at the end of every phrase, in two particles: ครับ…
- 📐Thank you, excuse me and "please"Thank you is easy: ขอบคุณ (khopkhun), boosted with มาก — mak, "very much".
- 📐The pronoun depends on the speaker, the verb on nothingEnglish "I" matches several Thai words, and the speaker picks one: a man says ผม (phom), a woman says ดิฉัน (dichan).…
- 📐A number never stands without a classifier"Two coffees" in Thai is "coffee two glass": the noun, then the number, then a classifier. That is a measure word that…
- 📐A question is made by a particle at the endEnglish flips the word order and builds an intonation. Thai does something simpler: it takes a statement and glues the…
- 📐The word order is familiar, and one verb serves every tenseThe phrase is assembled the way you expect: who → does what → to what. ผม ชอบ กาแฟ — "I like coffee", word for word.
- 📐Near and far, not and new: words a tone apartThai is short, and it is full of twins. Often what tells them apart is not a vowel or a consonant but the tone and one…
- 📐Three "no": ไม่, ไม่ ใช่ and เปล่าThe negation of a verb or a quality is the particle ไม่ (mai, falling tone) before the word: ไม่ เข้าใจ — "don't…
- 📐Dearer and nearer: comparison through กว่าA Thai adjective does not change: "expensive" stays paeng however much you compare. The comparison is made by a…
- 📐Where exactly: ใน, บน, หน้า and หลังThai does not decline: the role of a word is made by the preposition in front of the noun. "In the room" is nai hong…
- 📐Mine and yours: the word ของThai has no separate "my" and "your": possession is made by the word ของ — "of, from". The owner comes first: ban khong…
- 📐Yesterday, now, later: time without formsThe Thai verb does not change for tense: pai is "I go" and "I went" alike. Time is named by words, and there are three…
- 📐A request without "please": ช่วย and หน่อยNobody says "please" as a word in everyday speech. A request is built with the verb ช่วย, "help", as in the cry chuai…
- 📐The path: ไป, มา, จาก and ถึงDirection in Thai is made not by prepositions but by verbs of motion. ไป — "go there", away from the speaker: pai sanam…
- 📐ๆ: the repeat sign that changes the taste of a wordThe sign ๆ repeats the previous word: cha-cha — "slowly-slowly". You have already seen it in "speak more slowly…
- 📐นี้, นั่น, โน่น: this, that and that over thereThe demonstrative in Thai stands after the noun, exactly the reverse of English: not "this shirt" but "shirt this"…
- 📐มาก, หน่อย and เกิน ไป: the measure of a feelingA feeling in Thai is measured after the word, not before it: not "very sad" but "sad-very" — sao mak. มาก — "very, a…
- 📐ต้อง, ได้ ไหม and ไม่ ได้: must, may and must not"Must" is the familiar ต้อง plus a verb: tong booking hong — "you must book a room". The verb takes no form at all…
- 📐To whom: ให้, หา and ถึง address any actionThai does not decline: "to me", "for mom" and "to a friend" are assembled from little words after the verb. The first…
- 📐In and out: ขึ้น, ลง and นั่งTransport in Thai is described with three verbs of the body. ขึ้น — to go up and to board: khuen rot me — get on the…
- 📐Together and too: ด้วย and กันTwo short words glue people into a team. ด้วย at the end of a phrase means "too": phom pai duay — I will go too. At the…
- 📐If, because, when: ถ้า, เพราะ, เมื่อTwo short phrases are stitched together by a conjunction — a word between them. ถ้า — if: thaa fon tok yuu ban — if it…
- 📐Older and younger: พี่ and น้องThe Thai family is a ladder of age, and it has two chief words. พี่ — older: phi chai — elder brother, phi sao — elder…
- 📐การ and ความ: how a verb becomes a nounThai never changes the shape of a word, so to make a noun from a verb, you put a syllable in front. The first one is…
- 📐ค่า: the payment hidden in the billEvery bill in Thai is assembled with one syllable, ค่า — "payment". Glue it to what you pay for and you get the bill.…
- 📐ปวด and เป็น: where it hurts and what you haveThai speaks of illness with two short verbs. ปวด means "to hurt" and goes with a part of the body: glue it to the place…
- 📐คน, นัก and ผู้: the word makes the professionThai builds most words for people from the deed. Three syllables turn an action into a person. The most everyday one is…
- 📐เข้า and ออก: inward and outwardMotion in Thai is assembled from a pair of gate verbs: เข้า — enter, ออก — exit. They glue onto a deed and turn it.…
- 📐แล้ว and จะ: time brings its own wordThe verb in Thai never changes: "eat", "ate" and "have eaten" are one word, kin. The distinction is brought by a word…
- 📐Another's speech through ว่า: time does not shiftTo pass on what another person said, Thai has one word, ว่า — "that". It stands after the verb of speech, and then…
- 📐ถูก: when the deed happened to youTo say that something was done to someone, Thai puts ถูก before the action. The person in front is the one it happened…
- 📐Two phrases in one: cause, purpose, concession, choiceA complex sentence in Thai is assembled from two simple ones, with a link between them.
- 📐Time words and links come firstThe word order in Thai is close to English: who — does — what. But Thai puts the time in front of the doer, and this is…
- 📐A trait of character lives in the heart: ใจ and ความThai builds most traits of character from ใจ, "the heart", plus what kind of heart it is. jai di — kind, literally "a…
- 📐A feeling in time: กำลัง, แล้ว and จะA feeling word in Thai never changes: sao means "is sad", "was sad" and "will be sad" alike. The distinction is brought…
- 📐Food has its own classifiers: จาน, ชิ้น, ถ้วยA number without a classifier does not sound in Thai: not "three eggs" but "egg three piece". The order is always one…
- 📐What it is made of: ทำ จาก and the material after the thing"Made of" in Thai is ทำ จาก: tham jak pha — made of fabric. Jak here is the same "from" as in ma jaak nai — "where are…
- 📐Where the action moves: ขึ้น, ออก, เข้า, ไว้The Thai verb has no prefixes: the direction is brought by a second word after the verb. khan khuen — screw in…
- 📐The weather lives without a verb: ฝน ตก, แดด ออก and อากาศ with a state wordEnglish says "it is raining" with an empty "it". Thai names the thing and what it does. fon tok — "the rain falls"…
- 📐The road is explained with verbs: ตรง ไป, เลี้ยว, ข้าม, ถึงAn English direction leans on prepositions: "straight, across, as far as". A Thai one leans on verbs: the road is a…
- 📐The pronoun is optional: เก่ง, ทำ สำ เร็จ, เรียน ยากEnglish wants "I" in "I am good at it" or "I managed". Thai drops it: keng — "good at it"; tham sam ret — "it worked".…
- 📐Counting the times: ครั้ง — the classifier of eventsEnglish says "three times"; Thai says "time three": the number follows the classifier, and khrang is the classifier for…
- 📐A refusal without the word "no": ไม่ ได้, เถอะ and หรอกA flat "no" sounds ruder in Thai than in English, and Thais walk around it three ways. The first — refuse the deed, not…
- 📐What you do for a living: เป็น, ทำ งาน เป็น and the word อาชีพThe question about someone's trade is khun tham achaip arai — "what is your occupation?" Literally "you do profession…
- 📐เงิน next to any verb: how Thai speaks about moneyThai money verbs are two-word pairs: a verb plus ngoen, "money". ha ngoen — to earn, literally "to seek money". jai…
- 📐Many people without a single form: หลาย คน, ทุก คน, ส่วน ใหญ่The word khon, "person", has no plural. "A person walks" and "people walk" are the same: khon doen. A separate word…
- 📐น่า: worth watching, worth hearing, worth laughing atTo say something is worth it, Thai puts naa, "worthy of", before a verb. naa du — worth watching, literally "worthy of…
- 📐เล่น, วิ่ง, ฝึก: about sport without a single formThai plays its sport: len kilaa — to do sport, literally "to play sport". Then put in the name: len tennis, len muai.…
- 📐หนึ่ง เมตร, สอง ลิตร: number and measure without a single endingThai never changes the measure word after a number. The number comes first, the measure stays as it is: nueng met, song…
- 📐ปวด หัว, ปวด ท้อง: the map of pain in two words"My head hurts" in Thai is simply puat hua, literally "hurt head". No "my", no "me": the part of the body goes right…
- 📐วัน เกิด, วัน หยุด: Thai assembles the calendar from the word "day"English has "birthday", "day off", "holiday" — three different words. Thai almost always starts from wan, "day", and…
- 📐บอก ว่า, แจ้ง ว่า, ตาม ที่: the word ว่า attaches another's wordsThe English "that" after "say" is the Thai wa. It follows the verb of speech. mo bok wa tong phak — "the doctor said…
- 📐กว่า and ที่ สุด: comparison and the top without a single ending"Better", "faster", "dearer" — in Thai these are simply the quality word plus kwa: di kwa "better" (literally "good…
- 📐เข้า ไป or เข้า มา: where to and from where, hidden in the verbEnglish hangs direction on words like "in" and "out". Thai puts it into a verb pair: the motion takes pai, "away from…
- 📐แตก, พัง, ยับ: the state of a thing is already a predicate"The glass is broken" in Thai is kaeo taek: two words, no "is", no participles. The state word works as the verb…
- 📐ด้วย: the Thai instrumental — everything you do it with follows ด้วยThai changes nothing here. The tool keeps its shape, and duai, "by means of", stands in front of it. I cut with a knife…
- 📐แล้ว, กำลัง, จะ: the verb does not change — time stands beside itThe Thai verb never changes. Neighboring words before or after it show the time and kind of action, and they never…
- 📐ครึ่ง, หนึ่ง ใน สาม, เท่า: shares and multiples without a single endingA share, a multiple and a difference are three different instruments, and confusing them is expensive.
- 📐ก่อน, หลัง จาก, ขณะ ที่: the order of events without conjugationsEnglish bends its verbs: went, will go, having done. The Thai verb never changes. Small words around it hold the whole…
- 📐ต้อง, ห้าม, ควร: the rules without a doer"Trash is sorted", "one must not litter in the forest", "water is saved" — English hides the doer in the passive. Thai…
- 📐การ and ความ: a name from a verb and a name from a qualityEnglish makes a name from a verb: to work — work, to produce — production. Thai attaches kan to the deed and khwam to…
- 📐ก็: the short word takes the second placeIn assessments and stories you constantly hear the short word ko — "too", "indeed", "and then". It has one iron rule…
- 📐บอก ว่า, ถาม ว่า, ขอ ให้: another's words without a shift of timeThai puts another's words into a frame, and the frame ends with the word wa. The time inside the frame does not shift a…
What works differently from what you know
Thai has no words for “yes” and “no”: asked “are you going?”, you answer with the verb — “I am going” or “I am not going”. The confirming particle chai works only to agree with what the other person has said; a verb question is answered with the same verb, with or without a negation.
David Smyth, «Thai: An Essential Grammar», Routledge, 2002
What is hard about Thai and what comes for free
Hard: count words before numbers — two person, three glass — and polite particles at the end of the phrase: khrap for men, kha for women.
Easy: the verb never changes for person or tense; time is shown by words like yesterday and tomorrow.
This is not a verdict on the language but a hint on where to spend effort. The hard parts are best taken a little at a time and often; the easy parts — left alone while they work by themselves.
Frequently asked
Is the grammar of Thai complicated?
Count words before numbers — two person, three glass — and polite particles at the end of the phrase: khrap for men, kha for women is the main difficulty. In return, the verb never changes for person or tense; time is shown by words like yesterday and tomorrow.
Should grammar be learned separately?
Not as a separate course. A rule learned before you need it is forgotten before you meet it. It is more useful to work it out at the moment you stumble over it.